It now takes an average of 149 days, or five months, from a house seller accepting your offer, to complete on a house purchase, according to the property portal, Rightmove.
This is an increase of 26 per cent from the pre-pandemic average of 119 days.
Managing expectations
These times are the average, some property transactions may complete more quickly however many may take longer, it is therefore important to manage your expectations if you are buying a house. For example, if you put an offer on a property today, you are most likely to complete in January next year, so don’t go buying any Christmas decorations for the new house just yet.
Perfect storm of ‘events’
So, what is causing the average times to increase? It is, as you may suspect, not one thing but a perfect storm of events that have driven up average completion times.
Many conveyancers quit during the post-pandemic property boom. It many years to qualify as a conveyancer, therefore the rush to quit has left a lack of suitably qualified professionals in the job market.
There are now cheap (mainly online firms) pushing down prices in the conveyancing sector. But a rush to the bottom has meant professional solicitor firms have stopped doing conveyancing.
Experts say that online conveyancers should only be used for the simplest of transactions, but buyers and sellers rarely understand if their transaction is complex or not. If you want to guarantee a higher level of service, and face-to-face or in-personal communication, you will need to choose a local conveyancing firm, and this will cost you more. When making what is likely to be the largest financial commitment of your life, it is surely worth the extra to ensure you are not going to have trouble when you come to sell your property.
Another factor in the increase in completion times is that local authorities are slow to provide local searches, an essential element of the house-buying process.
A nervous market
There is a great deal of uncertainty around the property market at the moment and chains are collapsing as buyers get cold feet. The imminent election which is likely to result in a different government, worries over mortgage rates, and fears over world events all make would-be buyers nervous.
What can you do to minimise the risks of a property purchase falling through?
Instruct a well-established, local solicitor who knows the area in which you are buying and who understands your time scale. Do not fall for the ‘six-week completion’ myth. If you are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, you need to be sure it is done correctly, and this takes time. Allow your conveyancing solicitor to guide you through the process and trust them. As long as their communication is good, no matter how long it takes, it will be a better outcome for you in the long run.